Challenge

Today, digital disruption is ruthlessly redrawing industries. For the first time in modern history, global leaders can’t predict how their industry will fare further down the line. According to Dell’s Digital Transformation Index, 52% of senior decision makers across 16 countries have experienced significant disruption to their industries as a result of digital technologies. Today, there tends to be two extreme perspectives about the future: the anxiety-driven issue of unemployment – the robots are taking our jobs! Or the optimistic view that technology will solve all the social-environmental problems of the world. However, the reality is, the future will likely fall somewhere in the middle.
How can government(s) (local, state or federal) create jobs and/or encourage workforce development opportunities in anticipation of the transformative changes being driven by advances in manufacturing (like 3-D printing)?

Winning Idea

Technologies transformative change will broaden the manufacturing ecosystem. The future of manufacturing is local, small and on-demand.